Govt manoeuvres to avoid UNESCO

DEPUTY Premier Jeff Seeney has denied claims major port developments, such as the scheduled construction of Dudgeon Point Coal Terminal south of Mackay, could influence UNESCO to classify the Great Barrier Reef as World Heritage at risk.

His comments followed a damning UNESCO assessment of mining impacts on the Great Barrier Reef.

The report, released on Thursday, recommended no new port developments, as these could have an irreversible impact on the reef.

Mr Seeney said the $10 billion Dudgeon Point project did not count as a new development because it was technically part of the existing Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal at Hay Point.

"What UNESCO said is they don't believe there should be any new developments outside existing precincts and we agree with that," Mr Seeney said.

"Dudgeon Point will be an expansion of what is already at Hay Point. We don't see any need to open new coal ports in Queensland in the foreseeable future. However, we need to maximise facilities at existing ports."

Mackay Conservation Group co-ordinator Patricia Julien disagreed, and said the dredging necessary to complete Dudgeon Point would cause irreparable damage to the reef.

"There will be a lot more dredging here... at Dudgeon Point, there will be 13 million cubic metres of dredging per annum," Ms Julien said.

"Some of that will be in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park."

The government has estimated about 1800 jobs in six to eight years will be created during the construction of the port, while there would be about 640 jobs during operation.